The EBRPSO said the arrests of the four come after the body of Taherah Ghassemi, 54, was found in St. Helena Parish north of Pine Grove. Before the discovery, she had been missing since April 11 from the Baton Rouge area.

According to the preliminary investigation, Taherah Ghassemi was reported missing by her son after she didn't return home and her car and cellphone were nowhere to be found. On April 12, Baton Rouge police officers located her vehicle burned and completely destroyed as a result of suspected arson.

EBRPSO investigators said Taherah Ghassemi had recently gone through a divorce and property settlement with her ex-husband, Hamid Ghassemi. A search warrant of his cellphone records turned up a phone call he received the night she went missing.

Officials said the phone call was made by Ashpaugh. His phone records indicate that he made the calls at Taherah Ghassemi's home the night of her disappearance, the location where her car was burned and at her burial site.

Ashpaugh and Williams were arrested over the weekend in Livingston Parish. During questioning, Ashpaugh told detectives that he accompanied Williams and Richter to Taherah Ghassemi's home where they abducted her, placed her in the trunk of her vehicle, took her to St. Helena Parish and shot her before burying her.

After burying Taherah Ghassemi, Ashpaugh told detectives the group of men returned a black Tahoe to Hamid Ghassemi at his business, a car dealership in Baton Rouge. Ashpaugh said Hamid Ghassemi paid the men $10,000 for killing Taherah Ghassemi, while also providing them a can full of gas to burn her car, according to the EBRPSO.

Over the weekend, detectives issued an arrest warrant for Richter. He was arrested Sunday and all four are in the custody of the EBRPSO.

Additional information surrounding the investigation has not been released. The EBRPSO was assisted in the case by the Louisiana State Police and the St. Helena Parish Sheriff's Office.